Articles in "schoolarticles"

When school is dismissed on May 26th, families look forward to a summer of swimming, camping, baseball, and various summer activities. Many families still include reading as an important and pleasant summer activity. We as educators know the importance of summer reading and here are some specifics to encourage the enjoyment of reading during your child’s summer vacation.

Fifty-four members competed on 13 different State FFA judging teams at Utah State University on April 26-27.

Morgan FFA won sweepstakes for the 19th year in a row. The sweepstakes award was instituted twenty years ago. For every year since the first year Morgan has won the competition. The sweepstakes award is given to the chapter with the most points earned in career development throughout the year.

Fifty-four members competed on 13 different State FFA judging teams at Utah State University on April 26-27.

Morgan FFA won sweepstakes for the 19th year in a row. The sweepstakes award was instituted twenty years ago. For every year since the first year Morgan has won the competition. The sweepstakes award is given to the chapter with the most points earned in career development throughout the year.

Fifty-four members competed on 13 different State FFA judging teams at Utah State University on April 26-27.

Morgan FFA won sweepstakes for the 19th year in a row. The sweepstakes award was instituted twenty years ago. For every year since the first year Morgan has won the competition. The sweepstakes award is given to the chapter with the most points earned in career development throughout the year.

A surprising number of Morgan School District employees are going to join the ranks of the retired this year. Ten of our stalwart members have decided it’s time to move on to future endeavors and adventures.

On May 6, the Morgan Elementary Kindergarten students took a field trip to Diamond D Ranch. Our FFA members got to help them learned about horses, cows, baby animals, crops, roping, barrel racing, Keyhole and Goat Tying.

Morgan Empowered provided a program last Thursday at the high school where they presented ideas for activities for kids this summer. The program began with a story teller who provided entertainment and education. His style was engaging and entertaining and his messages gave good food for thought.

Morgan Middle School took ten 7th graders and ten 8th graders to the state math competition last month and the results are back. All 20 students scored in the top 50% of those participating in the state competition. Special congratulations are given to Jenna Carter, Elizabeth Preslar, Shad Boswell, Elizabeth Peterson, Courtney Fairbourn, Dietrich Streuber, and Daryion Stuart for scoring in the top 25%. Our students did great considering we were competing with all schools participating this year no matter their size.

Summer months for children need to be a time for relaxation, fun, learning the attributes of work, and of course no school. It can also be a time when reading skills are lost if students do not participate to a small extent in summer reading programs.

Danielle Morgan, a 201 1 graduate of Morgan High School FFA, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship by Barber Brothers Ford and Ford Motor Company. Morgan’s parents are Jason Morgan and Rhonda Morgan of Morgan, Morgan plans to study at Weber State University.

Jason Clark, the son of Brent and Cindy Clark of Morgan has been selected as the Valedictorian for the College of Agriculture at Utah State University. Jason grew up in Morgan, Utah helping out on their family’s dairy farm.

Despite the weather, this spring has given us many things to celebrate at MHS. Sterling Scholars, spring activities, and various other endeavors have involved students, parents, and other community members in worthwhile educational and extracurricular activities. Our band, choir, and drama students have all competed and represented our school very well. They won several honors in their various competitions and have set the bar for future students and schools throughout our state.

Last Tuesday night, the Northeastern Regional Sterling Scholar competition came to a close. After nearly six months of preparation, 14 schools brought their best students to compete in Mathematics, Science, English, Foreign Language, Dance, Music, Social Science, Computer Technology, Business, Trade and Technical, Speech and Drama, and General.

Although it is hard to believe, this school year is almost over. We are already starting to budget, hire, and plan for next school year. As our children transition from grade to grade, new concerns arise about the challenges a new school year may bring. For parents of students who struggle with aspects of the learning process, those concerns may become more apparent as students transition into new schools or developmental phases.

In the Tuesday night meeting the school board authorized the superintendent to utilize the High School Students to help in the case of a disaster. Superintendent Adams reported that he had met with individuals from the reservoirs in the area as well as emergency personnel from the county who had reported on the state of flooding in the area and he wanted to be prepared to act if flooding occurred again this year. The district has a stockpile of sand and sandbags to help with flooding. The students would be provided the opportunity to fill sandbags on school property if the county declared an emergency

Did you know that children spend 78% of their waking hours (including weekends and holidays) outside of school. The University of Michigan has compiled data from a number of sources which indicate that parental involvement in this time away from the classroom has a significant impact on student performance.

With less than one week left before region competition, Morgan High School’s Sterling Scholars are making final preparations. Final drafts of portfolios have been submitted, mock interviews conducted, and professional attire planned out. The six-month countdown is almost up, and these scholars are up for the challenge ahead. Here are this week’s Sterling Scholar spotlights:

Plant Manager Keith Krugh, was honored to present a Certificate of Recognition and gift to each of the Sterling Scholars for 2011, seniors who have excelled in many categories available in their high school on behalf of Holcim, (US), Inc. Holcim is a cement plant located in Devil’s Slide.

The county council rejected the request from the Morgan School District to help fund the new Trojan Centennial Center on Tuesday. Kelly Wright, former Morgan County Attorney, and President of the Morgan Education Foundation appealed to the council to contribute funds toward the center construction. Wright conveyed the intent of the school district to open the facility to the public and asked that the county utilize funds from impact fees designated for regional parks.

We are now one week closer to the Northeastern region Sterling Scholar competition and the pressure is building. First drafts of portfolios have been submitted for proofreading, mock interviews scheduled, and plans to shop for business attire made.

For the fourteen scholars at Morgan High School, the process has been a blur, but perhaps one of the most valuable experiences of their lives thus far.

Without further ado, it’s time to meet this week’s four Sterling Scholars:

It is time, once again, to recognize some of the excellent young women and men of Morgan County as we spotlight Morgan High School’s Sterling Scholars. The Sterling Scholar program’s purpose is to publicly recognize and encourage the pursuit of excellence in scholarship, leadership, and citizenship of high school seniors in the state of Utah.

Plant Manager Keith Krugh, was honored to present a Certificate of Recognition and gift to each of the Sterling Scholars for 2011, seniors who have excelled in many categories available in their high school on behalf of Holcim, (US), Inc. Holcim is a cement plant located in Devil’s Slide.

Operation Graduation has committed $12,000 towards the construction of the Trojan Century Center. The announcement was made by co-chairs Denny and Lucinda Andersen following a meeting with this year’s committee.

Devil’s Slide - The Morgan Education Foundation is happy to announce that funds are already beginning to be received for the Trojan Century Center. Holcim Cement has graciously donated powder for the concrete in both the Center and the new transportation facility. Plant Manager Keith Krugh indicates this will be a considerable savings to the district.

Our school system has a dedicated and devoted group of citizens leading the Morgan Education Foundation. These men and women give of their time and talents to serve the students of our schools. Trustees include: Kelly Wright, Scott Deru, David Alexander, Bruce Galbraith, Daren Peterson, Becky Weeks, Diana Olsen, Deanne Johnson, Jerry Peterson, Melanie Moore, Scott Duncan, and Jennie Earl.

The 3rd grade students at Mountain Green Elementary showed off their invention skills last week as they displayed and demonstrated their Leprechaun traps that they made. Each student was required to design and construct a Leprechaun trap based on principles that they had learned in class about simple machines. The students showed amazing creativity and a few of them were certain that they had caught a Leprechaun, unfortunately they all escaped. Way to go third graders!

Throughout the year you can open the newspaper and read about the athletic accomplishments of Morgan High Students. Morgan has a reputation around the state of being one of the most competitive schools in the state. Very seldom do I go to a meeting around the state when someone does not comment on Morgan High’s accomplishments on the playing field. Many of our athletic programs can and do compete with schools three to four times our size. The students are amazing and have shown over the years a dedication and work ethic that is unsurpassed by other schools in the state. What you don’t see as often are the accomplishments of the students, athletes, and clubs in the classroom or in educational competitions. While these competitions don’t usually make headlines in the newspapers they still demonstrate the work ethic and accomplishments of Morgan’s students.

The 2nd grade students from Mountain Green Elementary enjoyed a great field trip to the Clark Planetarium at The Gateway in Salt Lake City. They were able to explore the many displays in the museum as well as participate in a live show in the dome theater. They were able to experience a speedy sunrise and sunset, and learn how Earth’s rotation causes the motions of the sun, moon, and stars. They viewed the spherical Earth, Moon, and Sun and heard a few stories about several constellations. After the field trip the students walked down to the fountains at The Gateway. There they ate lunch and enjoyed watching the fountains move to the olympic-themed music.

“There were approximately 100 visitors to the County Library that day,” replied Morgan County Librarian, Valerie Hancock. She was reporting on the response to having a popular guest who had been invited to speak there last week. The extremely popular LDS author and speaker, Jon Bytheway was enthusiastically received when he spoke to the crowd last Friday.

Morgan Elementary School students and staff celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday by reading and logging 363,304 total minutes in the month of February, a new school record! Pictured are Mrs. Sommers’ 4th grade class who won the classroom contest reading a combined 22,103 minutes earning Mrs. Sommers a Barnes & Noble gift certificate.

Now more than ever before it is important for each of us to make our own personal fitness a priority. Being physically fit and participating in an active lifestyle can help reduce the prevalence of many of the health problems we face today such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Beyond the physical benefits of fitness, there are many mental and social benefits as well; feeling good, increasing energy levels, reducing stress, and spending time with family and friends, are but just a few.

The school board reported that the drawings on the new PE facility (above) are approximately fifty percent complete. The structure will be 150 feet by 293 feet. The current name for the facility is the Trojan Century Center since this year marks the one hundred year anniversary of the first high school class in Morgan.

The school board received a request to start a debate club, but approved a debate team on Tuesday. The high school saw this as a first step to determine if there was sufficient interest to form a team.

In the school district meeting on Tuesday the school board adopted a new maturation curriculum. A group consisting of school representatives and parents has been studying maturation programs across the state in an effort to build the best program for Morgan. The results of their study and work were presented in the school board meeting and approved to be implemented.

The school district took final action on the question of the land sale to the county on Tuesday. In a unanimous vote the school board decided to retain the land and to fence the entire parcel. This move will remove from the table any option for the county to use the land for the fair grounds. The board acted after the county failed to come to a decision on how to proceed on the land after three separate responses from the school board.

In the next few months teachers throughout the Morgan School District will be participating in statewide academy classes learning about the implementation of the new Utah State Common Core Educational Standards.

Currently students live as well as learn in a world that has been profoundly transformed by the immediate availability of immense stores of information in an array of formats. One form of literacy that is important to the success of Morgan County School District students is Information Literacy.

WASHINGTON, DC Ruston Roberts of Morgan Elementary School has received a $2,000 Learning & Leadership Grant from the NEA Foundation to lead the Morgan Elementary School faculty in a study of How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students by Susan Brookhart.
Collaborative teams will review the text, the research, and student and classroom data over the course of the year to support implementation of the principles of effective feedback. The study and implementation will be supported by text, DVD training, and coaching.